1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to intraoral dental radiographic film packets, and particularly to an improvement therein that renders them more convenient to use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is replete with dental film packets of the type referred to above. Examples may be found in the following documents:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,443,093--Discloses a dental x-ray film package comprising sensitized and protective sheets superposed within a readily openable sealed envelope of substantially uniform overall thickness. Dental film packages as described in this patent have been in widespread use for many years. An irksome problem encountered with such packages, however, has been the difficulty experienced in trying to remove only the sensitized sheet from the envelope after that sheet has been radiographically exposed. Such difficulty occurs because that sheet remains completely covered on both sides by the protective sheets when the sensitized and protective sheets are withdrawn together from the opened envelope. All of the sheets are very thin and therefore difficult to separate, especially when working entirely by feel in the dark. Although various attempts to resolve that problem have been made over the years, none has yet proven fully satisfactory.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,643--Discloses a dental x-ray film pack embodying one such attempt, wherein protective opaque and reflecting components superposed upon part of a sensitized film sheet are adhesively bonded to an overlying peelable flap portion of an enclosing envelope, in order to be automatically removed from the film sheet when the flap portion is peeled away to open the envelope. Although the thus-uncovered part of the film sheet is thereby rendered accessible for grasping by the user, such a scheme is complex and costly to manufacture, it makes the envelope flap portion stiffer and more resistant to being peeled away when the envelope is to be opened, and its reliability is dependent upon the integrity of its adhesive bonds.
There has thus remained a need for a solution to the above-described problem that is simple, efficient, and economical to adopt, and which is highly reliable, practical, and convenient when in use.